Magic Realism's Mirror Image

"It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love." is not what you would expect from a book listed on Oprah's book club. As one turns the pages of Love in the Time of Cholera, one can only be reminded that this book is on the list and the famous author, best known for the classic, One Hundred Years of Solitude, does not fret over this promotion by Oprah. Not that we have anything against Oprah's choices, but many classic authors of a certain caliber tend to shy away from her.

But Gabriel Garcia Marquez does not shy away from publicity. His style known as magic realism has been debated, analyzed, argued, and considered as controversial as innovative, hence the Nobel Prize award. His book Love in the Time of Cholera could hold sway in such a prize as well.

The language is simply beautiful, eloquent, and casts one in another time, place, and tastes like a ripe fruit plucked from the heart of South America. However, it falls short in the measure of a "great" book. Who am I to say what is great or not? Tis true, yet the book really does fall short. It has such a great introduction and it seems to lead you to that path. However, by page 50 you find yourself lost in the trance of love, but missing the better half, depth. What is love so free with no depth? That is Love in the Time of Cholera. Beautiful to read, but it does not move like a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

The answer is that Marquez is so involved with his magic realism that one does not find an inch of tragedy, even when we are faced with the death of the starting character, Dr. Urbino. One does not feel an inkling for him, which I find amazing.

So what's the theory? Well, the movie Adaptation discusses this theme and the core problem with writing a story. Novice writers tend to write themselves into the story. It is hard not to, one feels so strongly for oneself. What not? Many great authors do write a facet of themselves into the story. However, I tend to believe Marquez wrote himself completely into the story and that this is the core of magic realism. One projects themselves in the background of a mirror, soon, we can't make head or tails of which one is real.